Weapons on display and in the march-past will include sophisticated radar, unmanned aerial vehicles and satellite communication devices of the People's Liberation Army, Lt. Gen. Fang Fenghui, general director of the parade, told Xinhua news agency.

More than 52 types of new weapon systems developed with China's own technologies, including ballistic missiles, airborne early warning and control aircraft, will be seen in, and flying above, Tiananmen Square on Oct.1.

The idea is to show how China's military has gone from a labor-intensive fighting force to one operating high-technology weapon systems and capable of joint operations in modern warfare, said Fang, who is also head of the PLA's Beijing Military Area Command.

Apart from saying all the troops in the parade will be dressed in PLA 07-type uniforms, the Chinese are not officially giving many details of the hardware to be on display. But pictures of the several large-scale rehearsals are giving clues, according to defense news Web site theasiandefence.blogspot.com.

New vehicles on display will likely include the ZBD97 infantry fighting vehicle, 155mm PLZ05 self-propelled artillery and the Type-99G main battle tank. The rehearsal also showed vehicles in a new digital camouflage pattern.

"This is intended to fox modern digitally enhanced imaging devices used in tanks, anti-tank devices and UAVs," said Richard Fisher, vice president of the International Assessment and Strategy Center, quoted on theasiandefence.blogspot.com site.

The ZBD97 is similar to the Russian BMP-3 series. The Type-99G MBT is the most modern variant of the new Type-98/99 series first seen in the 1999 parade. A new PLA Marine Corps blue camouflage IFV was photographed and first seen on the Internet in 2005. But October's parade will be the first public display.

Anticipation of seeing for the first time the new DF-41 ICBM, still under development, has been dampened because it has been a no-show at rehearsals. "If the DF-41 is not shown, it could be that they are still testing it and don't want to look premature in revealing it," said Richard Bitzinger, who lectures at the Singapore-based Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

The DF-41 is based on the DF-31 and will have a range between 7,000 and 10,000 miles, carrying up to 10 MIRVs. "Obviously, the Chinese are going to put on a real show for the 60th anniversary," said Bitzinger, a former CIA analyst.

Part of that show will be China's first women fighter pilots who will take part in the parade, according to news agency Xinhua, although there was no indication that they would be part of any flypast.

The 16 women, who have not been home for two years because of intensive training, are part of the 35 selected from 350,000 high school graduates from 12 provinces in September 2005. All are between the ages of 22 and 24.

The parade location can be found on Google Earth by using coordinates 39.79985N, 116.710396E, according to theasiandefence.blogspot.com.

earlier related report
Tibet's problems similar to southern Italy: EU delegate
The first EU delegation to visit Tibet spoke enthusiastically Friday of an economic boom in the Himalayan region, saying the region had "the same sort of problems" found in southern Italy.

Tibet's economic development is "impressive" said Mario Sepi, Italian head of the consultative European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and leader of the three-man mission.

Flanked by China's ambassador to the European Union, Zhe Song, Sepi said the problems seen in Tibet could be compared to those in southern Italy.

"We have seen the same sort of problems in the Mezzogiorno region," including Naples, which suffers poverty and mafia problems, he said.

Sepi stressed the positive: "The human rights problem is essential but you also have to take into account the economic development and social justice," he said, to approving nods from the Chinese ambassador.

The European official justified ambassador Zhe's presence by saying that it made it easier for him to "submit recommendations to his government."

Sepi and his delegation spent four days in Tibet, mainly in the capital Lhasa and held several talks with Chinese officials after being invited to visit by the Chinese.

There were no meetings with opposition figures.

"There were lots of police officers controlling the streets," Sepi said, but "we were able to speak freely to Tibetans thanks to our interpreter."

The EU delegation's number two, German Peter Clever also noted "a strong security presence" in Tibet.

"From my point of view this contributes to a feeling of menace," he said, before adding that this was "a personal and subjective view as I am not a security expert."

The EU representative admitted that the "consequences of the events" of March 2008 continued to be felt in Tibet.

"The crisis is not over," he said.

Exiled Tibetan leaders say some 200 people died in the Chinese crackdown on the protests in their Himalayan homeland, while China claims that rioters killed 21 innocent people.

The UN has voiced concern at allegations of disproportionate use of force against ethnic Tibetans during the protests.

China sent troops into Tibet in 1950 and officially "liberated" it the following year.

The Tibet visit, approved by EU Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, was funded with European taxpayers' money.

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